New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) has approved Mars Wrigley a $3.15m annual tax credit package over 10 years for bringing 483 jobs to the state.

According to Mars Wrigley’s application to the Grow New Jersey Assistance Program (NJ Grow), it plans to make an estimated $42m capital investment in a leased 110,000-suqare-foot office in Newark, NJ, even though it did not disclose the specific location.

NJ Grow is a performance-based program administered by the EDA, meaning that “no benefit is received by an applicant (Mars Wrigley in this case) until they have certified that the commitments on which their approval was based have been met, including job creation/retention and capital investment,”​ said EDA’s communications coordinator Kelly Dombrowski.

“[Mars Wrigley] has three years from the approval date to do so,”​ she noted.

Mars Wrigley also pointed out the importance of tax credits for selecting its regional hub in New Jersey.

“The location analysis submitted to the authority shows New Jersey to be the more expensive option and, as a result, the management of Mars Wrigley has indicated that the grant of tax credits is a material factor in the company’s location decision,”​ it said.

New headquarters: Illinois or New Jersey?

While the M&M producer is still debating on whether its North America headquarters should be in Illinois or New Jersey, its recently created global headquarters will remain in Chicago regardless of the decision, said Mars Wrigley’s spokesperson, Anthony Guerrieri.

“We have not yet made a final decision on our US headquarters as we await the completion of the incentives process,”​ he said.

Mars Wrigley currently has five manufacturing sites, four offices, and an innovation center in Illinois, and one manufacturing plant and three office locations across New Jersey. If it selects Newark as its North America headquarters, it would move 113 jobs from Chicago and 370 jobs from Hackettstown, NJ, to Newark.

Additionally, Mars Wrigley is considering investing $52m in the Hackettstown factory. The investment will upgrade and refurbish existing assets, and increase the site’s packaging capabilities.

“It is estimated that the project would have a combined net benefit to the state of $219.2m over the 20-year period,”​ said the company.